I never could have anticipated how much God would teach me about worship and His protection while in Haiti (Gonaives at night from the orphanage pictured right). My primary inclination was that we would encounter a lot of spiritual warfare with all the Voodoo in the country and that living conditions would be unsafe and difficult. Though our living conditions were confined and simple, our safety was never a question in my mind.
We lived in an orphanage compound just outside a city called Gonaives (gone-aye-eves) in the northern part of Haiti. We stayed in an empty concrete building used as a Pharmacy and clinic. The gates surrounding the compound had gaping holes and were much too low to assume one could not jump them. The gates themselves were most frequently unlocked. A man named Meme slept in the building with us (I think he worked at the orphanage) to ensure our safety. And yet I never had a question of our safety. (Below right is a view of the orphanage from our concrete compound)
I have, in the past, felt a heaviness or darkness when the enemy is present. I never had such a feeling. I felt more oppression in the city of San Juan, Dominican Republic than in Gonaives.
We did not have a translator this month, so we had no real way of knowing what Gonaives was really like. About two weeks into our ministry, a medical mission team from North Carolina came to the compound to check all the orphans. I sought one of them out to understand the condition of the city. What I found I would have never guessed.
Gonaives is one of (if not the) most dangerous cities in all of Haiti. Crime and Voodoo are crawling the city in a shadow of darkness. It was described to me as the center of Voodoo in the country. This is the very place Voodoo priests are raised up and trained in their craft. This has bred crime, violence, fear and social disorder in many ways.
In all of this danger, we experienced almost no fear. Two girls woke up one night feeling the evil of coming from the music floating in on the night air from the city, but outside this, we felt completely covered. I started to ask myself why. As many of you may have heard from reading my squadmates blogs, this was not the story for everyone. There must have been a reason for this and I came to this conclusion.
As I mentioned previously, we stayed at an orphanage. What I did not mention was the passion these children and workers lived out toward the Lord. It was truly amazing. They would assemble multiple times during the week formally to worship together. The children would also gather in the evenings and worship God with hearts that poured out to Him in song, shouts, raised hands, dancing and tears. They truly love the Lord with all their hearts and know how to worship Him well.
Likewise, I found myself continually being drawn to worship the Lord on my own. Seemingly any spare moment I could gather I would, without thinking, move to an empty room with my guitar and simply sing to the God of my salvation. Some you would sing in a church and some came directly from my heart. I began to reach a place deep within that I have not allowed access to in the past. I think there is still a lot for me to learn in this and a lot deeper for me to go, but I attained a new level of depth with the Lord; my heart worshipping His.
In all of this I think it could not possibly be a coincidence that though we were in a very unsafe place, we were protected. I believe that worship and this protection were connected in a significant way. The children invited the presence of the Lord into their home and we invited Him as well. I have been told that the Lord dwells in the place He is welcome, and when we worship Him, we welcome Him to come be with us.
It is the same way with us. If I ignore you or resist a relationship with you, you will naturally leave feeling rejected. However, if I tell you all the amazing things I see in you and invite your relationship, you will remain feeling welcomed. God will not force us to want to be with Him. He will not force Himself on us in any way. Where He is welcomed, though, He dwells. And where He dwells there is safety. (Below is an image of a girl learning worship songs in English. She read and sang along for quite a while)
I must, as a side note, make it clear that I believe in the omnipresence of our Lord. He does not leave us because it is outside His very definition. What I am saying is that when He is welcomed, He dwells with us. Not to say that there will be times when we are attacked when He is present, but He will never allow those who welcome Him to fall out of His reach. I do believe, though, that we can spend so much time and energy talking to the enemy and telling God what we are going to do based on the power He has given us that we forget that the presence of God eliminates all our fears and accomplishes the work for us.
God is love in very definition. He is the quintessential definition of perfect love. And perfect love casts out all fear. If this is true, His presence will guard and protect us if we only welcome Him. Jesus is also the light of the world. Where His light is there is no darkness and everything lies exposed by the light. Where His presence is the darkness must flee. Therefore, because of the very nature of God, when we invite Him to dwell with us, He does, and darkness and fear must depart. (I also found it beautiful that many times when we would look out at Gonaives from the orphanage, light would be shining down on it. I think God was telling me in this, “I’m not done here yet.”)
We must spend more time worshipping God than talking to the enemy. He is not worth our time or our breath. I can tell you with out a doubt hidden in the secret places of my mind that Jesus Christ is worth our breath, our recognition, our praise, our worship, our adoration, and our very lives. So if you find yourself fearful or wondering where the presence of God is, welcome Him. He will always dwell in the place He is welcomed.
